Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday maintained that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself should be held liable for the flood control scandal he has vowed to clean up. 

And if the President insists on jailing people before Christmas, she suggested he should start with himself.

“He knew about it long ago,” Duterte said in Filipino in an interview in Cebu City. “If he says that until now there is no evidence, that means he is doing nothing.” 

Because Marcos signed the 2025 General Appropriations Act that contained the questionable flood appropriations, the Vice President argued that Marcos was automatically part of the accountability chain.

“He should be included. He is the one who signed the 2025 GAA,” she said. “All anomalies there include the President because it only became law due to his signature.” 

Then came her sharpest line: “He can jail himself. He should admit he has shortcomings — not small ones, but major shortcomings. He can jail himself.” 

Meanwhile, Marcos wants over three dozen other people jailed, promising them a bleak Christmas.

In a Palace briefing also yesterday, the President reiterated that nearly 40 individuals tagged in the multibillion-peso flood control mess should be behind bars before the holidays.

“I know, before Christmas, many of these people named here will have their cases completed,” he said. “They will be locked up. They won’t have a Merry Christmas.”

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has supported the President’s timeline, saying the first two cases filed involve nearly 40 individuals and are non-bailable. Arrests, he said, could happen at any time.

As the President vowed to jail suspects and the Vice President suggested that he jail himself, foreign investors added their voices — also asking that people be imprisoned, but not specifying who.

At a forum in Manila, Danish Ambassador Franz-Michael Mellbin said that jailing those involved would send “an important signal” that the Philippines is serious about corruption.

“It will be a healthy signal to see people actually starting to end up in jail for the theft of public property,” he said.

Nordic Chamber of Commerce president Bo Lundqvist said the scandal has already damaged the country’s reputation.

“To put people in jail, if need be, is the only way to convince the business community to invest,” he said.